5/18/2008

You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn

When they were younger, Laura and Miles were inseparable. They were more than friends, more than cousins, they were like sisters. They spent their days in the treehouse that Laura's father built for them, playing Once Upon a Time and speaking in a made-up language.

As they grew up, though, they grew apart. Laura flourished in a world of popularity well-suited to her wealth and golden beauty. Miles, on the other hand, retreated into junk food and cigarettes, veiling herself in gothic makeup and facial piercings. She read constantly, preferring words to people. Especially people like the classmates that nicknamed her 8-Mile. Her only true friend at her D.C. charter school the popular, handsome, and talented acting/rapping/breakdancing Jamal, who once stood up for her when nobody else would. Occasionally, Laura and Miles would return to the treehouse of their childhood, passing time together in a Percoset-induced haze. It couldn't come close to the happiness of their past, but was all that Miles had to hold on to. So when Laura--beautiful, intelligent, lovely Laura--commits suicide, Miles is left shattered. She understands why Laura chose not to live, but is heartbroken nonetheless, wishing that she could have followed her on the way out. Wishing that they could have chosen together. With nothing else left, Miles turns to prescription painkillers, that numb-nothing-dream her only respite from the pain of Laura's memory. She's on a dangerous path here, losing all she didn't know she had to high she can't bear to give up.

You Know Where to Find Me is a powerful, well-written story of love, loss, and unexpected healing. It's heart-wrenching, funny, and sometimes even heart-wrenchingly funny. Cohn embodies Miles perfectly, writing with both wit and deep grief that make the novel entirely believable.

Thanks for dropping in. Really.

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